Aargh. Left bolognaise out of the fridge overnight - should I bin it?

[willow]

Was trying to be so together and cooked up huge batch of spag bol to freeze, then promptly forgot that it was still cooling and went to bed.

Bin it?

No no. I do this a lot and we have lived to tell the tale. If you are worried, taste some yourself and see what happens.

Is your kitchen relatively cool or boiling?

I would probably over heat it to make sure any nasties killed off. Have done it, fed whole family with no tummy trouble. (but our kitchen is like a fridge anyway!)

No, you will be fine provided you re heat throughly when you next eat it.

What Clara said. Give it another long, slow cook to kill off any bugs and then freeze it. You can never over-cook bolognaise IMO.
I know someone whose DS discovered some bolognaise sauce left out, scoffed it (like any self respecting teenager would) and his mum made him barf it up. Wierdo.

Noo.. .don't re-heat it and then freeze it!

if anything, freeze it straight away and THEN give it a long cook when you go to use it. It'll be fine, as long as your kitchen isn't like an oven (like ours is!)

To be scientific there is a difference between 'reheat' and 'recook'.
To heat is to warm through (and encourage bugs if you are not careful).
To cook is to get the temperature above 70 degrees, which kills the bugs.

don't know about you, but I always re-heat to above 70C anyway.

Personally I wouldn't re-heat/re-cook, if I had to freeze it and then warm it up again.

I do this all the time and never had any problems. Just reheat to boiling when you come to cook it and you'll be fine.

If the lid was on it will be practically sterile anyway, as the inside of the pan will have been sterilised by the steam. Ok, you will have had some air sucked in as the pan cooled, but it's not like leaving it uncovered for hours in the sun.

I always leave it in the pan overnight. I wouldn't think of refrigerating and we are all fine and well.

I made Chilli two nights ago. Reheated last night for dinner and plan to reheat the leftovers for tonight. I am completely sure it will be ok and I wont kill anyone

When did all this hysteria about food left out start? I grew up in a house before fridges (yes, I know, out of the Ark); you put stuff in the larder and then either eat it (eg cold roast meat) or bring it up to the boil again and then eat it (eg spag bol).

Most people lived to tell the tale...

don't think there's any hysteria here...

My DW does this almost every time she cooks. I do nag her about it, but we seem to still be alive/not shitting for England.

EE didn't mean to imply there was, just that I've noticed of late (not just on MN) a number of people thinking that food not refrigerated within moments of cooking must be thrown out.

I agree Avenge.

ah, yes.,. I see what you mean. I am uber cautious about food, but would never worry about a pot of chilli or something being left out overnight..

Thank you. It was too late to save - I then forgot it was in the fridge - but will remember for the inevitable next time.

I k ow this is really old but i just googled "bolognese left out ok to eat?"... I cooked my spag bol (well the bol bit) at 9pm last night. Put it in the fridge at 5am (thanks to my 18 month old) and we all had it for dinner at 6pm. So far so good... :)